oined on the eighth day of the
calends of January and the last day of the year 1513, by the men he
had left behind with Pochorroso. The slaves whom the southern caciques
had lent them, carried their gold-mining tools.

The day of the Nativity of Our Lord was given to rest, but the
following day, the Feast of the Protomartyr St. Stephen, Vasco led
some miners to a hill near Tumanama's residence because he thought
from the colour of the earth that it contained gold. A hole a palm and
a half in size was made, and from the earth sifted a few grains of
gold, not larger than a lentil, were obtained.

Vasco had this fact recorded by a notary and witnesses, in order to
establish the authenticity of this discovery, as he called it, of a
_toman_ of gold. In the language of bankers, a _toman_ contains twelve
grains. Vasco consequently deduced, as the neighbouring caciques
alleged, that the country was rich, but he could never prevail upon
Tumanama to admit it. Some said that Tumanama was indifferent to such
unimportant fragments of gold, others claimed that he persisted in
denying the wealth of his country for fear the Spaniards, to satisfy
their desire for gold, might take possession of the whole of it. The
cacique saw only too well into the future; for the Spaniards have
decided, if the King consents, to establish new towns in his country
and that of Pochorroso; these towns will serve as refuges and
storehouses for travellers going to the South Sea, and moreover both
countries are favourable for growing all kinds of fruits and crops.

Vasco decided to leave this country, and to blaze for himself, a new
trail through a land of which the earth tints and the shells seemed
to him to indicate the presence of gold. He ordered a little digging
below the surface of the earth to be done, and found a peso, weighing
a little more than a grain. I have already said in my First Decade,
addressed to Your Holiness, that a peso was worth a castellano of
gold. Enchanted with this result, he overwhelmed Tumanama with
nattering promises to prevent the cacique from interfering with any of
the Spaniards' allies in that neighbourhood. He also besought him to
collect a quantity of gold. It is alleged that he had carried off all
the cacique's women, and had practically stripped him to check his
insolence. Tumanama also confided his son to Vasco in order that the
boy might learn our language in living with the Spaniards, and become
acquainted with our